Trick? or Treat?

I grew up not really participating in Halloween the way most kids did. My parents were pastors at the local A/G church and most of the Halloween nights were spent in Fall Festivals or whatever the church had going on that year. We were always some Bible character. It seems that I had some scarf around my head almost every year pretending to be Mary. There were a few times, however, that Halloween would be on a different night than the church festival. And unlike most kids, we wouldn't dress up or go trick r' treating. We would anxiously stand at the door lurking out the screen with our arms full of candy to pass out. I remember it being lots of fun, but also remember wishing I could go with my friends in some funky costume to get my own candy. Bring my findings home and dumping it all out to see what all I had gotten. I remember hearing about an elderly lady down the street giving out quarters. MAN, I wish I could have at least gone to HER house.  I am not really completely sure why we were never allowed to participate in the traditional trick r treating festivities. I don't really even think my parents fully knew except that they had either read or heard that it was dangerous, evil, and non-Christian to be apart of such a holiday that associates with ghost and goblins. They were trying to protect their kids and just do the right thing by being the right kind of parent. I understand because I am totally there now! Now, I am the parent and am asking myself what is my stance on this fun yet somewhat questionable, at least to the church, holiday? 

To me Halloween is great because first and foremost, you get candy. I mean, come on! FREE candy.  There is something else that I think kids love about Halloween. It is being with their parents. Having their parents attention in dressing up. Spending that much needed time as a family going from house to house. If you don't go with your kids, I would encourage this practice. Plus, for one day it is totally acceptable to dress up in whatever you want. Even as I write this, I see my 3 year old watching tv in her princess dress with crown on her head and magic wand in hand. It isn't even 9:00a.m.! Today she can walk around as a princess and it be "socially" acceptable. Of course, this doesn't stop her from going to Wal-Mart in her princess dress any other day of the year. 

The questionable part of Halloween is the part that I read about online as the REAL meaning behind Halloween. Is letting my girls dress up and go knock on the neighbors house for candy evil? I don't think so. As we all know, every holiday has become so commercialized. I think my decision thus far is to let them participate like the other kids. Be apart of their community. But, eventually give them more information about what all goes on at Halloween and that, just like everything, there is a line that we do not cross. Just like believing in Santa. I am okay and even encourage their believe in the red suited grandpa, but will always put more reverence and importance in reaching out to others just like God reached out to us that First Christmas. But, that is for a different blog and a different day. 

Happy Fall! Happy Halloween! November 1st is my day to officially pull out the Christmas music and begin the actually holidays that I love and that mean most to me. 

Haircut central

I recently gave my husband a haircut. Saves money and I do a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. So, after much talk about cutting Grace's hair. I decided to just go for it. It had gotten so long and unmanageable. Bath time hair washing was absolutely world war 3!!! I got out my hair cutting scissors and ended up cutting about 2 1/2 inches off. But this was not without it's drama and wanting to just shave her head. It looks cute but I will not be doing this again. I'm not patient or a good enough person to deal with the head bobbing and all the "whaaaaa" I heard. No, next time we will be making an appointment with Cookie Cutters, the kid hair place.

"I'm all grown up now, I'm three."

In the life of a mom there are just those moments when you know you are seeing something special in your child. It is like all the world is standing still for that very moment you are in. I had one of those moments with my oldest, Grace, tonight. It was bedtime, which like any average 3 year old, is not her favorite time of the day. Her daddy had read her some books and then began telling her it was time for bed and she needed to give Mommy hugs and kisses. And again, like any average 3 year old, we heard the broken record of whining, "But, I'm not tired." *yawn* "I don't want to go to bed." *yawn* "I don't like going to bed." I saw this as a perfect moment to bust out my motherly teaching skills and put them to good use. 

I sat her down in front of me on the floor and proceeded to tell her about how we all have to do things that we don't like to do. I used my not liking to do laundry as an example. Saying that if I decided not to do laundry because I didn't like it then she wouldn't have any clean clothes to wear! She asked what daddy didn't like to do. He told her how there were days when he would rather stay home with us then go to work. But, if he didn't go to work then we wouldn't have food to eat or a place to live. With which she asked, "Where would we live?" I took this as the que that the point had either already gotten across and she had totally forgotten it or the point, much more likely, had never gotten across. She then kissed and hugged daddy goodnight and slipped her hand into mine as I led her to bed.

I tucked her into bed with her favorite pink and green blankie and proceeded with the nightly routine of me rubbing her arm while singing, "Jesus Loves Me". I started singing when I heard her sigh and rub her hand across her fluffy bed and say, "I have a nice bed, huh, Mommy?" I smiled and said, "Yes you do. God is so good to us, isn't he?" In a way that only Grace can, she turned her eyes to one side and said, "Yes, he is and I'm all grown up now. I'm three." In that moment my whole world stopped. The world of countless moments of her whining at me about all the earth shattering crisis that happened in her day. All the time I had to send her to time out, JUST TODAY. All the hours on my knees praying that God would grant me MORE patience as I wasn't sure what to do with this kid. It all slipped away to a hidden or forgotten place in my heart. Because in that moment I remembered why I had become a mother. Why I wanted her. It wasn't for all the stuff that makes me want to turn over at 5:30a.m. instead of facing my day. It was for moments like these when I know that she is growing up and there is nothing I can do to stop it. Right now her dreams are big and real and true. She has no limitations. Her fairy tales haven't been tainted by the countless heartbreaks that life will throw at her. In her very small world she is the true princess of her castle and daddy is her knight in shining armor. Mommy can do anything to fix the hurt and make all the boo-boo's better. Her little sister is, well, her vote is still out on that one. If I could stop her from growing up, I probably wouldn't. But, I might like to slow it down just a little. I get so consumed with the ins and outs of my day of just trying to get her to the age of 4, that I forget about the little spirit that lives inside her. I know that she will grow up and I wonder what she will become. Whatever it is, I know it will be something beautiful.